Bambi and the Duke

The year 1766

Vivian's small hands pressed against the cold windows of the quiet room she was locked in. Her once red eyes which had gradually turned black in a few weeks of time now stared at the guests outside the room who chattered merrily with each other while she had none as a company. The window the little girl stood in front was a custom made which allowed only the person inside the room to sneak a glance outside and not the other way round due to which even if anyone passed by, none of the guests could talk to her.

Spending some more minutes with the hope that either her mother or father would let her out she stood by the window waiting for them except as minutes turned to hours no one came to let her out of the room.

Little Vivian had the least idea of why she had been locked away in the room which had never happened before. Her family loved her. Her father dotted her as she was her their first born child before her younger brother Gregorie who was a couple of years younger compared to her vampire age that was if she was still a vampire like the rest of her family. The party in the Alcott manor continued without her and finally, she fell asleep right below the window.

When all the guests left the mansion, the room door to where Vivian had fallen asleep burst out to let a man inside. Not far behind him stood a woman at the door who didn't dare to step her foot inside the room.

"Abel, wait. Emmanuel said not to open-"

"That's enough, Elaine!" The man stopped her from spluttering any more nonsense. Picking up the girl in his arms, he walked out of the room, taking her to her own bedroom and tucking her in the bed. Stepping out, he locked the room behind him before sending a glare towards the woman.

"I cannot believe what you have done to your own child!"

"I merely asked her to stay in the room," the woman was none other than Vivian's mother who spoke in a worried tone now at the thought of what her husband would say, "Emmanuel isn't going to be happy if he finds she is back in her room. We need to protect ourselves, Abel."

"Protect from what sister?" scoffed Abel disbelievingly.

Hearing this, Elaine whispered, "She isn't us, don't you see it?! She is a human. There has to be some sort of witchery if it isn't it would only mean someone tricked us and she isn't our child."

"Hell, can you hear yourself speak? She is your daughter, Elaine. Why is it so hard for you to believe it?" Abel argued with his elder sister.

"Because she's a human. No vampire turns to a human out of nowhere. We are vampires, Abel. When was the last time you heard one of our family members turned into a human? When did that happen?" she questioned him and then shook her head, "We don't even know what she is and where to go looking for answers," she was ashamed to think about it.

Being born to a vampire family and married into one, Elaine along with her husband strongly believed that vampires had to marry vampires and that humans were nothing but dirt under their feet. There were rare cases where vampiress bore a human child who was shunned mostly by society and in turn by their own family. Fortunately, unlike his sister Abel spent more time outside and in the council than in their house to pick up those foolish ideas. He was well aware that it was hard to change his sister's mind once she had set it. It wasn't exactly his house affairs but the little girl was his niece. She didn't deserve to be locked in the room for something she had no control over. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed it. With weeks, the girl had lost her appetite when it came to drinking blood. The last time he had seen her, her eyes had swapped between red and black for a fleeting moment. When he had first arrived at the manor, he hadn't given her absence much of a thought until Gregorie, his nephew took him there when the owners of the manor went to bid their guests outside.

"We don't know why she turned to a human but that doesn't mean you keep her in a room at the fear of being discovered by the people that you have a human for a daughter now. She's barely even seven. After being loved all these years if both her parents suddenly behave distant with her, it's going to break that child's heart."

He then continued, "She's a child, Elaine. Don't forget that and above all your daughter," hearing no response from his sibling he sighed, "I will take my leave now and visit you in the morning when your mind is much clearer," he stated before walking past her to reach the stairs to meet his brother-in-law Emmanuel on his way. Bowing his head, he left the manor. Sadly, what Abel didn't know was that his sister and her husband had decided to give up their daughter. The next day, before dawn broke in their empire, the girl was sent with a maid from another land. With the black sheep gone, there would be nothing to be ashamed of in their society who thrived to have nothing but vampires.